How do I contact a human being at instagram??!

April 10, 2017 6:39 AM

I tried to set up a new instagram account a few weeks ago, got an error message, and now the account exists in some Schroedinger state that can't be fixed. Nothing on help.instagram.com works, and their reporting tool through the app is broken. How do I contact a person?

I've already got a (rarely-used, mostly for following friends) personal instagram account. I wanted to set up a new one for an endeavor I'm starting up (details unimportant and I don't want to look like I'm advertising something).
So a few weeks ago I went to the website and started the setup process.
I got some sort of "Sorry, there was an error, try again later" message.
Ever since then, depending on how I try to log in, my account either
exists (can't re-create it),
does not exist (can't log in on web),
is disabled for a violation (can't log in on app),
or exists but isn't associated with an email address (can't submit a "forgot password" request).

help.instagram.com seems to be completely devoid of links to "contact us directly with an issue", as far as I can tell.

There is a way to report an incorrectly-reported-for-violation issue through the app, but that is broken in a different way: It keeps telling me that I didn't enter a country name, even though I did, and also asks me to log in to facebook, which I tried with my primary account, but it's still broken.

I found an email address "[e-mail]" but that bounced back to me with a message from facebook saying "we no longer support this".

I've tried tweeting at them, but I'm afraid that will get caught up in noise.

Is there any secret way to get in contact with instagram support and talk to a person?
Preferably electronic, because I don't know if I care enough to talk to someone on the phone, but I might give that a shot if it's the only option...
Or I'll end up letting this account stay locked and try to create another one with a similar name.

posted by jozxyqk to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

Facebook bought IG, so try Facebook support.
posted by Sunburnt at 7:21 AM on April 10, 2017

Twitter is probably the best bet, although it sounds like your problem is hard to describe. Maybe take screenshots of each example you list up there and include that in your message.

Otherwise:
This doesn't seem to address the issue completely, but here is a form: Email Address Already In Use

If the account is actually disabled:
|If you think your account was disabled by mistake, you may be able to appeal the decision by opening the app, entering your username and password and following the on-screen instructions.

If the email address is incorrect, I'm sure you saw on help.instagram.com the following:
|Unfortunately, if you can't access the email account you registered with and didn't link your Instagram and Facebook accounts, we're unable to give you access to the account.
posted by czytm at 7:51 AM on April 10, 2017

Response by poster: @czytm: "If you think your account was disabled by mistake, you may be able to appeal the decision by opening the app, entering your username and password and following the on-screen instructions."

Yes, these particular instructions are broken, because they keep telling me that I'm not entering a country into their form when I am. So I can't proceed with this, the only thing that resembles direct contact!
posted by jozxyqk at 7:54 AM on April 10, 2017

Agreed that it is hard to tell exactly what is going on from your post here. I would recommend writing a supper-clear public post somewhere (Tumblr? Medium?) with tons of screenshots, and then tweet the link to that Instagram as well as any employees of Instagram you can find. (politely)
posted by misterbrandt at 7:56 AM on April 10, 2017

Yes, these particular instructions are broken, because they keep telling me that I'm not entering a country into their form when I am. So I can't proceed with this, the only thing that resembles direct contact!

Have you tried using different browsers/computers? Often some forms like this don't work in IE but work in Chrome (or Firefox or Safari) or visa versa, or your work PC is blocking some script the form needs to work, or AdBlock is stopping the page working, etc.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:09 AM on April 10, 2017

Response by poster: My details may need to be corrected, but here is exactly what is going on:
I unfortunately did not keep a screenshot of the initial problem so I don't remember the exact language. But when I clicked "Submit" to add a new account, I got an error to the effect of "Sorry, there is a problem. Try again later."

Let's say I tried the username "beanplate" and the email address "[e-mail]".

If I try logging in on instagram.com in a web browser as "beanplate", I get this message:
The username you entered doesn't belong to an account. Please check your username and try again.

If I click "Forgot?" in the password box on instagram.com, and enter "beanplate" in the username field, I get this message:
Sorry, this user is not active.

If I click "Forgot?" in the password box on instagram.com, and enter "[e-mail]" in the username field, I get this message:
That e-mail address or username doesn't have an associated user account. Are you sure you've registered?

If I try to sign up on instagram.com with the same username and same email address, I get this message:
Sorry, that username is taken.

If I use the instagram app on my iphone, and try logging in as "[e-mail]", I get this message:
The username you entered doesn't belong to an account. Please check your username and try again.
(it says username even though it claims to allow an email address here)

If I use the instagram app on my iphone, and try logging in as "beanplate", I get a popup message saying:
Error
Your account has been disabled for violating our terms. Learn how you may be able to restore your account.
(button)Learn More(/button)

If I click "Learn More", I am directed to a webpage (looks like it is in the Facebook Browser) that has a "let us know" link.
If I click the "let us know" link, it leads e to a "My Instagram Account was Deactivated" form.

It asks "Is this account used to represent a business, product or service?"
I click "No".

Then it asks for my Full Name, Instagram Username, Email Address, and "Which country are you writing in from?"

I enter all of this information. For Country I have tried "USA", "United States", and "United States of America" with the same results each time.
After I click "Send", the Country field is blanked out and there is a message stating:
Missing required field.
This field cannot be empty.

There are 3 dots in the top left, which allow you to open the link in Safari. I did this. Same result.
From Safari, I copy-pasted the link into iOS Chrome. Same result.
I copy-pasted the link to my desktop and tried in muiltiple desktop browsers. Same result.

This is about as complete information I can supply, other than the actual userid and email address (neither of which is related to "jozxyqk", by the way)
posted by jozxyqk at 8:16 AM on April 10, 2017

Response by poster: (also tried those last steps on different network connections, just to add to the standard diagnostic questions)
posted by jozxyqk at 8:43 AM on April 10, 2017

Can you post the URL to the "My Instagram Account is Deactivated" form?

Also that is a specific question that would be good to ask @instagram on twitter, a specific form with a URL having broken functionality.
posted by czytm at 8:48 AM on April 10, 2017

Response by poster: Here's the link. It requires a facebook login, and I used my primary facebook info to get through that part, even though this new account isn't technically associated with anything on fb yet.
posted by jozxyqk at 8:52 AM on April 10, 2017

I have not used Get Human, but if it's worth $30 to you, they say they will resolve it with a 100% money back guarantee.
posted by AFABulous at 8:57 AM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I have already spent more effort on this than I would normally care to.. It would be nice to be able to recover this account, but I can always add a "the" or a "real" or something and try again with the userid. I am just vaguely worried that trying to set up something new will have the same problem and lock out a second potential userid.
And honestly I don't even plan on using instagram all that much; I just want userid-consistency "just in case".

Now it's just a challenge to see if it can be fixed by talking to someone who can click a button on the back-end for me.

Babysitting edit: No, it is not worth $30 to me. It's not even worth the amount of time I've already spent typing up details in this question :)
posted by jozxyqk at 8:58 AM on April 10, 2017

Best answer: You might just be SOL. My IG account name was just my first name. Random strangers would constantly leave me comments re: how I had stolen their account name. I would receive an 4-5 password reset emails every day, often in other languages. I assume that somebody trying to take the account filed a complaint or something, and one day, I tried to log in and was told that my account had been deleted for "impersonating somebody else". The in-app procedure for sending them a picture of my ID causes the IG app to crash (and has for years). Once, I even managed to work enough social connections to get Kevin Systrom's assistant to forward a request to some internal team. I never heard back. At this point, I've just given up and don't feel like it's worthwhile to create another account. IG customer service is basically a black hole and if you're not a celebrity, they don't care.
posted by strangecargo at 10:56 AM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: That's what I'm afraid of, strangecargo.
That being said, at least if nobody can use the ID, then I don't have to worry about it being abused or mistaken for me...
posted by jozxyqk at 11:59 AM on April 10, 2017

Best answer: I'd give up and make a new account. It's a young enough account that you probably aren't losing much.
posted by w0mbat at 4:21 PM on April 10, 2017